With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the government officials who operated the former communist state allowed the global proliferation of modern military equipment by selling off equipment through alternative channels of commerce. Through these black-market channels, even insignificant warlord chieftains and terrorists were granted access to weaponry that can disrupt the operations of some of the world's most sophisticated armies. In October 1993 U.S. Army Rangers raided a compound in Mogadishu, Somalia. The U.S. was responding to seizures of humanitarian supplies by local militia who were seeking to exploit the charity of the international community for their own pecuniary gain. During the raid, the militia's forces fired a surface-to-air missile, downing a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter. As a result, U.S. Army commanders redirected foot soldiers and mechanized forces to aid the injured pilots.
During the midst of a firefight and with enemy forces closing in on the helicopter's debris, commanders needed to rely on paper maps and surveillance video to generate routes to the injured pilots. The commanders radioed turn-by-turn directions to the soldiers only to discover that many roads along the routes were impassable due to enemy obstructions. In the ensuing battle-lasting fewer than 24 hours—the U.S. lost two more Blackhawk helicopters and suffered 18 casualties.
To avoid such situations in the subsequent missions, military planners took advantage of advancements in technology to provide soldiers, and their commanders access to an unprecedented amount of information. Some of the information is now collected in real-time using computers, sensors and communications equipment carried by each soldier in the field.
This so-called “integrated soldier technology” created a system that meshes each soldier into the digitized battlefield as a “weapons system” in his own right, each man-platform contributing to the larger, network enabled environment where each soldier platform becomes a key component within the network centric battlefield system. Enhanced communications capability including voice, data, images and internet facilities is now available to each member on the battlefield. The system provides adequate bandwidth for the transfer of large volumes of tactical information. This technology combined with softer camouflage textiles will provide durability, environmental protection and reduced thermal signature.
In addition to its role as protective gear, the modern soldier's helmet has a computerized display that enables the user to view the weapon's mounted sight as well as computer generated images. Together with alternative displays such as weapon mounted sights and hand held computers these elements provide remote viewing of mission critical data including maps, images and video from stored or real-time sources. These remote sources could include weapons sights from other section members, ground sensor pictures sent directly from unattended sensors or from their commanders, or surveillance cameras mounted on unmanned aerial or ground vehicles. GPS systems are combined with navigation sub-systems, to provide fully integrated navigation, orientation and target acquisition capability. The soldier can plan a route in advance, incorporating waypoints and avoiding dangers, using helmet mounted display with visual or audible cues.
Through the use of advanced communications equipment carried by the individual soldiers, additional benefits are also gained. A common problem encountered by modern armed forces during the confusion of battle, as evidenced during the Gulf War, is the phenomenon known as “friendly fire” in which forces accidentally fire on their own troops causing unnecessary casualties and fatalities. Instances of friendly fire often involve aircraft or helicopters accidentally firing on their own ground troops. By combining the communications capabilities with the GPS systems, commanders, pilots and individuals can avoid mistaking their fellow troops as the enemy.
Using this advanced technology, the military planners hope to avoid or stop situations such as that which occurred Mogadishu. However, the additional capabilities come at a price. The equipment and supplies carried by the average soldier, currently weigh nearly 80 lbs. For an average three day mission requires that the soldier carry 20 lbs to 30 lbs of batteries. This added weight has a detrimental effect on the mobility of soldiers.
While existing power systems are suitable for their intended purposes, there still remains a need for improvements in providing a reliable, light weight and field deployable power systems to provide military field operations with the electrical power to complete their missions and allow access to recharging facilities that minimize the need to carry large amounts of batteries. In particular, a need exists for a topology for a power system that provides a means for continuously providing power for recharging batteries when natural resources are unavailable.